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Vimentin is a type III intermediate filament (IF) that primarily found in mesenchymal cells and plays important roles in epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT). IFs were originally thought to be a relatively static structure that mainly functioned as mechanical support. However, in the past decades, it has been shown that IF networks are highly dynamic structures and their roles have expanded from maintenance of cell shape and integrity to cellular migration, adhesion, and cancer metastasis. Vimentin knockout mouse was originally reported to have no overt phenotype, leading to the conclusion that vimentin IF represented an unnecessary cytoskeletal system. Interestingly, our group recently found that acute lung injury (ALI) is attenuated in mice lacking vimentin when challenged with either LPS, asbestos, or bleomycin. Moreover, these studies demonstrated vimentin to be a key player in the activation of the NACHT …